


It's not paranoia

by Dissenter



Category: Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny, Highlander: The Series
Genre: 5 Times, But the watchers think he is, Corwin is not an immortal, Crossover, Disguise, Dysfunctional Family, Family Issues, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Methos is in hiding, Mistaken Identity, the watchers are creepy spies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 01:52:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4001440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dissenter/pseuds/Dissenter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times the watchers mistook Corwin of Amber for an immortal, and one time one of them knew exactly who he was and never told anyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's not paranoia

**It’s not paranoia**

They first spot him at some point in the middle ages. They probably wouldn’t even have noticed, except that Tomas, one of their older watchers, recognised the stranger who came into town from forty years ago and knew that he hadn’t changed a bit. He probably wouldn’t even have remembered if it hadn’t been for the fact that the last time he’d seen him he’d succeeded in drinking an entire tavern under the table. It left an impression. Now here he was again forty years on and he hadn’t changed a day. Well it didn’t take a genius to put those pieces together, so he made a note in his journal.

Probable immortal identified

Name- Sir Corey?

Age- unknown

First death- Unknown

Teacher- Unknown

First sighting- Year of our lord 1389

Second sighting- Year of our lord 1429

Identifying features- dark hair, green eyes, skilled fighter, recommend further observation to establish more useful details

Note- the individual concerned showed no signs of aging in between the two dates mentioned, indicating immortality had probably set in either prior to the first sighting or shortly after.

Tomas sent this note to the watchers council along with a recommendation to start a chronicle, but the unknown immortal, that was currently going by the name “Sir Corey” vanished long before they could assign him a watcher.

 

The Watchers didn’t encounter him again until Victorian times. A research watcher in the British library, by the name of John Benson, was on his way to work when he observed a man knocked down by a carriage and clearly saw his leg broken at an odd angle. He would have thought nothing more of the event, except that three days later he watched the same man walk into the library without a scratch on him. Benson wasn’t cleared as a field watcher, but he was smart enough to connect the dots. And so he decided to do some research and try to identify him.

The man didn’t carry himself like a new immortal, the way he carefully scanned the room for threats, and walked poised, but relaxed, aware of but unconcerned about threats to his life. So Benson went digging through the records. He managed to find 463 unaccounted for immortals that fit this man’s current description, and would have given up all hope of finding out who he was if he hadn’t signed the visitors register with the name Carl Corey. There was no way to be sure this was the same man as the Sir Corey who appeared in the chronicle written by Tomas, but it seemed possible, so he made a note.

Probable immortal sighting

Location- The British library

Date- 5th September 1892

Immortal identified- Current name Carl Corey, matches the description of a Sir Corey first sighted in the middle ages

Method of identification- observed the man hit by a carriage and obtain injuries including but not limited to an obviously broken leg. Three days later saw the same man walk into the library completely uninjured.

Activity observed- Appeared to be reading the most recent books of medical science. Possibly training to become a doctor?

Note- Upon observation the man did not appear to act as a new immortal, rather behavioural cues would seem to indicate a seasoned player in the game, therefore I took it upon myself to find out whether he had been observed before and found that the closest match was for a man going by the name of “Sir Corey”, in 1389, making the subject at least 517 years of age. Recommend the immediate assignment of a watcher, before the subject disappears again, as past evidence implies he is very hard to keep track of.

Despite the watchers best efforts, Carl Corey vanished again within a week of the sighting. He was next spotted three years later by Robert Fletcher, who had been watching a young immortal who had enlisted in the army as a cavalryman before being unexpectedly decapitated in a skirmish in the Sudan, and was now serving out the remainder of his commission before he could be re-assigned. It was during a rather messy confrontation that took place in one of the local villages that Fletcher noticed the man. He stood out from the other locals, appearance wise, but Fletcher knew for a fact that he wasn’t one of his men, so when the man snatched the sword off of one of the dead soldiers and proceeded to give a demonstration of some of the best sword skills Fletcher had seen in all his years as a watcher, he mentally noted the man down as a probably immortal. In his report he included a sketch of the man he had seen which allowed the council to confirm he was the same immortal that Benson had identified three years previously.

Field report from Cptn Robert Fletcher- re probable immortal sighting

Location- Sudan, ******, *****

Date- 7th May, 1895

Report- Subsequent to being placed on suspended duty after the death of my assigned subject, I had an encounter which I believe may be of interest to the council. My unit and I were participating in heavy fighting in the village of *****, in the province of *****, when I observed a man who did not resemble the locals in appearance. Knowing that he was not one of my men, I kept an eye on him, suspecting he may have been a spy or weapons dealer, or some other kind of troublemaker, thus I was able to observe the incident in full.

Initially the man seemed content to simply observe the battle and stay out of the way of combat, but after one of my soldiers collapsed through his door, dead he seized the man’s sword and proceeded to give a display of swordsmanship the likes of which I have not seen in all my years as a watcher. If this man is not an immortal I shall be extremely surprised, as few men in our modern age have the patience or need to master the sword to such an extent. Unfortunately, I lost track of him in the chaos of battle, but I here enclose a sketch of the man, so that if another watcher sights him he will be able to identify him.

Yours respectfully Cpt Robert Fletcher

 

The next watcher to spot him was young and inexperienced, and identified him more by chance than anything else. It was the sixties and Watcher in training James Albern had sneaked out of training to go to a festival. He’d initially thought he was hallucinating when he spotted a man straight out of one of his father’s old war photographs, which is probably the main reason he thought it was a good idea to approach him. They had ended up enjoying a very pleasant conversation over a joint, and when he mentioned to his new friend Carl that he looked exactly like one of his dad’s old war buddies, the man had just laughed and said he had one of those faces. But something had seemed off about his reaction, so after coming down, sneaking home, and double checking the photograph James decided he’d probably better check the chronicles just in case. A weeks worth of research later and he was staring at a photograph from the 1940’s (his), a sketch from the 1890’s (the council’s), and the terrifying suspicion that he had spent an afternoon getting high with a five hundred year old immortal. He wondered if the fact that he had two new sightings of an immortal to report would keep the council from punishing him too badly when they found out how he’d become aware of those sightings. Probably not.

Immortal sighting report form 4652/b

Location- The Isle of Wight

Date- 31/08/1969

Subject- Carl Corey

Activity observed- the consumption of recreational drugs, specifically LSD and Cannabis

Hostility level- Low

Method of identification- The subject bore an uncanny resemblance to a photograph from the 1940’s with no visible signs of aging (Copies of the photograph are attached to this report). Upon further investigation the photograph matched a sketch the council had on file for one Carl Corey. The subject also exhibited an inhumanly high tolerance for recreational drugs, further supporting the evidence that he was in fact immortal.

Further notes- I was able to make contact and conduct a casual conversation with the subject. The subject seemed friendly, but exhibited all the usual symptoms of paranoia common in older immortals, even while under the influence of copious amounts of drugs. When I confronted him with knowledge of an old photo of him, he chose to deflect rather than react with outright hostility. The subject did not appear to be carrying a sword, but I was able to spot three concealed knives, and a pistol in his boot, I have no doubt that there were further weapons which I failed to spot. My initial evaluation suggests he is cautious, but not aggressive. During conversation he stated that black and silver were “The most awesome colours ever man, like they were totally my colours”, note down a preference for black and silver as possible identifying features.

Internal memo-re trainee watcher Albern

While Albern’s behaviour was unorthodox, it did manage to gain us valuable information on a particularly elusive immortal. Moreover his skill in identifying, and gaining information from a potential immortal without arousing suspicions, while under the influence of recreational substances, is an ability which could prove valuable to the organisation. I recommend that no further disciplinary action be taken with regards to Albern’s extracurricular activities. I also recommend that he be assigned as Byron’s watcher when Watcher Senton retires, due to his skill at blending in with a certain segment of society.

 

It wasn’t until the fifth time they spotted him that the watchers were able to observe him interacting with another immortal. This encounter was recorded by Cassandra’s watcher in the late 1970’s, who noted that the two seemed wary of each other, although not openly hostile, and that this did not appear to be their first meeting. No challenge was issued.

Extract from Cassandra’s Chronicle, 15/11/1978 

As Cassandra entered the café her attention immediately went towards a man sitting in the corner, dressed in black jeans and a smart grey shirt. She appeared to hesitate for a moment before heading towards him. I was able to secure a table close enough to overhear what they were saying, thus I include here a transcript of their conversation.

The stranger greeted her first, “Hello Cassandra”

“Coren. What the hell are you doing here?” As far as I could tell she seemed more angry than surprised.

“Is that any way to greet an old friend?”

“We were never friends.”

“Maybe not, but we weren’t enemies either.” She sighed in response to this.

“Maybe not. That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.” His tone turned serious as he made his request.

“I was hoping to ask you for a reading.”

“And why would I do a thing like that?”

“Because you’re good at it. And I’ll owe you a favour.” The offer to trade favours led me to suspect that this “Coren” was in fact an older immortal. Younger ones tended to offer cash. She considered a moment before giving her response.

“Very well, but not here.” At this point she scribbled down a note, and pointing at it said…

“Meet me here at nine this evening and I’ll do it then. But be warned. It may not be what you’re hoping for.” He grinned in wry amusement.

“The future rarely is.”

After my shift ended I decided to investigate to see if I could identify this immortal, and after exhaustive examination of the records, came upon the file for an immortal named Carl Corey. After examining the photograph and sketch included in the file, I came to the conclusion that this was in fact the same individual, and so I added Cassandra to his list of known associates.

 

After this encounter, Corey disappeared off the watcher’s radar again, his next encounter with a watcher went completely unrecorded.

There was a very good reason Methos was in hiding, and it wasn’t because of other immortals. Well ok it was a bit, but they weren’t the real problem. The real problem was his family. They thought he was dead, and he fully intended to keep it that way.

He had gone to great lengths in planning his disappearance, he’d carefully selected a shadow where he wouldn’t be the only ageless, fast healing being; the game was just a nice bonus that kept him from getting complacent. He’d had thousands of years to get settled in, build up a life, try out different persona’s and hobbies. So it was understandably an unpleasant shock when, walking along the street minding his own business he saw his brother, Corwin walking right towards him.

His response was really the only rational one he could have made under the circumstances. He’d left amberite politics well behind him when he’d faked his own death, and he had no intention of being dragged back into them now. You know your family has issues when the game seems safe and reasonable by comparison. At least his fellow immortals were honest about wanting to chop his head off. Although sometimes he wondered if the game wasn’t a shadow of the brutal, long running, and underhanded succession battle that underpinned most of his interactions with his siblings. At any rate he had no intention of being discovered, so he ducked into an alleyway and skulked. Either Corwin was here trying to get away from it all in which case he wouldn’t thank Methos for being a reminder of home, or he wasn’t in which case his carefully faked death would be revealed as a fraud. Either way there was no benefit to making contact.

It was a shame though, he’d always rather liked Corwin. Not trusted him of course, not even an idiot trusted family, but he’d enjoyed his company. Maybe he’d keep an eye on him from a distance, jut to see what he was up to.

**Author's Note:**

> So I was basically thinking about all that time Corwin spent on earth with amnesia and I just thought that if the watchers ran into him they would absolutely think he was an immortal, and he's paranoid enough that they wouldn't be able to track him closely enough to be sure, so I can totally see them starting a file on him. And then I thought that Methos was easily paranoid enough to be a prince of amber, and it sort of spiralled from there.


End file.
